{"id":127792,"date":"2021-09-12T14:14:08","date_gmt":"2021-09-12T14:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=127792"},"modified":"2021-09-12T19:59:03","modified_gmt":"2021-09-12T19:59:03","slug":"quades-emotional-sonny-bill-tribute-on-live-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=127792","title":{"rendered":"Quade's emotional Sonny Bill tribute on live TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quade Cooper paid an emotional tribute to Sonny Bill Williams on live television after kicking a clutch game-winner to seal a fairytale Wallabies comeback<\/a> after four years in the Test wilderness.<\/p>\n

The once divisive 33-year-old has followed a similar path to James O'Connor in winning over Wallabies fans with a much matured outlook upon return to the Test arena.<\/p>\n

Cooper was a perfect eight from eight from the kicking tee and, crucially, didn't overplay his hand as Australia shrugged off a Bledisloe Cup clean sweep to stun the world champion Springboks 28-26 on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n

Stan Sport is the only place to\u00a0watch\u00a0every match of<\/em><\/strong> The Rugby Championship<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, continuing\u00a0this Saturday with\u00a0All Blacks\u00a0vs Argentina and Wallabies vs South Africa –\u00a0live, extended and ad-free.\u00a0Start your 7 day free trial\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Quade's<\/p>\n

The win rekindles Australia's Rugby Championship hopes but instead of pumping his own tyres post-match, Cooper deferred to close mate and former opponent Williams.<\/p>\n

"I hate to put my brother in the studio on the spot there but I'm so grateful for him," Cooper said on Nine and Stan Sport.<\/p>\n

"When things went a bit pear shaped a few years ago, he was the first guy to reach out to me. I spent about two-three months with him, just living with him every day and just seeing what it takes to be a good strong man every day.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Wallabies comeback king sinks world champions<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Springboks skipper's foul play proves costly<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Tough love' All Blacks destroy hapless Argentina<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"You see him with his family, see him with his teammates, the dedication, the hard work that he puts into his day to day life.<\/p>\n

"Not just when he turns up to footy training, every single day it's about being a better man, being better for himself and his family and everything else.<\/p>\n

"I love you brother and I appreciate everything bro."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A clearly touched Williams responded first with humour.<\/p>\n

"I love you too brother, I'm still waiting for the rent that my wife was expecting for that two months," Williams said.<\/p>\n

"No, so proud of you. That big moment, you just stepped up to the mark and said 'that's mine…' I got really emotional when he nailed that kick because I know the hardship that Quade's had to overcome in the last few years, culminating in this kick."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cooper last played for the Wallabies in 2017 and fell out with coaches Michael Cheika and Brad Thorn before moving to Japan.<\/p>\n

His heroics will surely see him maintain his starting spot against South Africa on Saturday even with O'Connor available after a long-term injury.<\/p>\n

Cooper described the decision making within the team after the Wallabies won a crucial late penalty with the goalposts in sight but far from a gimme.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I looked up and I'd had a kick from a similar spot just before that," Cooper said.<\/p>\n

"I only just had the legs to get it over. I looked at it, had a little chat to myself and said 'is this your ego saying you want to take the kick or what's for the benefit of the team?'<\/p>\n

"I looked over and had a little chat to Hodgey (Reece Hodge) as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"He backed me. So when your peers are backing you you've got to back yourself as well."<\/p>\n

Somehow the calmest person at Cbus Super Stadium, Cooper was remarkably zen in reflecting on "one of the all-time Test matches that I've played in."<\/p>\n

"Footy is just a small part of my life," Cooper said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"This is just a small part of our life. An important part but it's still a small part…<\/p>\n

"When we put that into perspective, we're going to walk off this field win, lose or draw, we might be a bit sore but it's not going to be the end of the world.<\/p>\n

"There's so much more to life than just the result of a football game. And when you can understand that, that's when you feel at peace with the game and with everything else around us."<\/p>\n

\"Wallabies<\/p>\n

Let's not forget that the Auckland-born Cooper is not even an Australian citizen after having previous applications knocked back.<\/p>\n

Surely, this is enough to get him over the line?<\/p>\n

"Let's hope so, fingers crossed," he deadpanned.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/katelorimer\/status\/1437029589788737543?s=20<\/a><\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quade Cooper paid an emotional tribute to Sonny Bill Williams on live television after kicking a clutch game-winner to seal a fairytale Wallabies comeback after […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127792"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=127792"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127794,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127792\/revisions\/127794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=127792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=127792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=127792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}